No ban on carpooling in Bengaluru, clarifies govt; transport minister to meet aggregators on Oct 3

Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy

The Karnataka government clarified on October 2 that there is no ban on carpooling, refuting reports claiming its prohibition in the country's tech capital, known as the world's second-slowest city.

Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy told Moneycontrol, "We haven't banned carpooling in Bengaluru. For the past few days, there has been a buzz on social media claiming it has been banned. No official order or notification was issued. I'm meeting carpooling aggregators on October 3."

He emphasized that none of the carpooling apps had obtained permission from the government, stating, "How can we ban them when they are neither legal nor have applied for permission? The government believes that carpooling is an effective way to reduce congestion. For instance, friends, neighbours, or colleagues can carpool, but they are not allowed to do so through an app for commercial purposes. If they intend to use it for profit, they should apply for a licence and operate with yellow-board vehicles." he said.

KNM Rao, founder, and CEO of Quick Ride, a car-pooling app, confirmed to Moneycontrol that they haven't received any notice from the transport department and said they will meet transport minister on October 3.

A senior transport department official told Moneycontrol that there has been misinformation circulating for the past few days. He explained, "White-board vehicles are only for private use according to the Motor Vehicle rules. In fact, food or e-commerce delivery workers are not supposed to use white-board two-wheeler for commercial purposes as per rules. Many aggregators are operating bike-taxi services with white-board two-wheelers, which is also illegal. People are allowed to carpool with friends, colleagues, or others by creating a WhatsApp group, and there is no illegality in that."

Private transport associations in Bengaluru observed a strike on September 11  and one of their demands had been to ban carpooling. Bengaluru traffic police has been promoting carpooling initiatives to reduce congestion in the city.

Also read: Traffic cops propose carpooling, shuttle buses to ease congestion on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road

A video showing members of a cab drivers’ union harassing Quick Ride users at Manyata Tech Park in Bengaluru's Nagawara and claiming carpooling as illegal went viral on social media

Also read: Cab drivers’ union harasses carpooling app users in Bengaluru, calls it illegal

According to Clause 15 of the Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines 2020 issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, "In furtherance of the Central and state governments' objectives to reduce traffic congestion and automobile pollution, and to effectively utilize assets, non-transport vehicle pooling may be provided by aggregators unless prohibited by the state government. The rationale for such prohibition shall be specified in writing and made accessible on the transport portal of the state government."

K Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Karnataka State Travel Owners Association, told Moneycontrol that allowing carpooling services in white-board vehicles is illegal. He said the requirements for yellow-board vehicles include renewing fitness certificates every two years and obtaining a public service vehicle badge to operate commercial vehicles.  "In addition to this, there are high insurance costs, permit fees, and reduced resale value for yellow-board vehicles. If the government allows white-board vehicles for commercial purposes, taxi drivers should also be permitted to use them."

On social media, there have been discussions about the ban on carpool services in Bengaluru, with citizens expressing concerns about worsening traffic congestion.

BJP leader and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on October 2 wrote an open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, requesting the state government to allow carpooling to decongest Bengaluru’s traffic.

"Ride-sharing and carpooling are seen as immediate and suitable remedies to ease the mobility crisis, especially for IT employees traveling to the same IT Park or area and returning home to the same locality after work. Ride-hailing apps like BlaBla Car, Quickride, Zoom, Rideshare, and others have been offering carpooling services where 3-4 persons share rides to the same workplace, area, or IT park." said Surya.

Surya stressed the need to update the Motor Vehicles Act to accommodate such services, calling the current MV Act 'outdated' and not permitting whiteboard vehicles for commercial commutes.

Opposing Surya's letter, Tanveer Pasha, president of Ola Uber Driver's and Owner's Association, stated that private users engaging in carpooling are affecting the livelihoods of drivers who are witnessing a drop in earnings after Covid-19.

Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary of the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), said: "Private vehicles operating for commercial purposes are illegal and unethical. Promoting services of carpooling apps that bypass revenue to the state exchequer and flout state rules for operating ride-hailing/sharing services is wrong."

He said commercial drivers who pay road taxes and obtain necessary permits to ensure passenger safety are being displaced by these carpooling app companies. "These companies are negatively impacting the livelihoods of our drivers."

Meanwhile, Hariprakash Agrawal, CEO of RideAlly, which operates app-based cabs, said: "At Rideally, we tried exactly this from 2014 to 2017, where carpoolers were not allowed to share costs, but it did not get that much traction. We took a stand where car owners could not earn from ride-takers as that was illegal. Later, a few apps came where they allowed people to earn, and RideAlly's user base came down suddenly. We focused on carpooling within the corporates where employees could share among themselves, and corporates paid us on a SAAS basis." he said.

Also read: Massive traffic jam on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road; traffic police issues advisory to IT companies